Toro Rosso Barcelona test notes 2008-11-18

A busy day with two cars and three drivers: Sebastien Buemi drove all day, while Takuma Sato jumped out of the cockpit at the end of the morning, to hand over to Sebastien Bourdais. Buemi and Sato did some long runs to gather data on the new slick tyres, with the Swiss driver having an off-track excursion on his first set of new rubber. However, he recovered well to complete another high mileage day, after yesterday's performance, which is a testament to his physical condition, given that the cars are more physically demanding to drive on slick tyres.

Sato finished his programme by doing a long stint at race pace, before handing over to Bourdais. "I have really enjoyed the test and it was great to be back in the car," commented the Japanese driver. "The last test in September was a little disappointing, because I could do only 3 hours, as it rained in the afternoon. But this test has been great - I have now done my first full day's driving in 7 months and completed a total of 200 laps. The car has worked really well and felt great to drive. I enjoyed working with the team and it was very interesting for me to see how the engineers work. It was a great experience and chance for me and so I would like to say a big thanks to Red Bull and Mr. Mateschitz, as well as to the Scuderia Toro Rosso team."

Bourdais, no stranger to slick tyres because of his time running them in Champ Cars in the USA, commented that Bridgestone has made a step forward in tyre performance and consistency, since he tested them earlier in the year. However, it was evident that the softer of the two types of tyre had a clear advantage over the harder one.

Buemi and Bourdais continue running tomorrow for the final day of this test.

-credit: toro rosso